Hope Prologue: The 13th
by 20945
Summary: Summary: This story is about Hope who was found by Despair and living his new life in the Heart Beyond Sorrow as the Brotherhood of Sins's 13th brother. I'm not good with summaries. Some resemblance to KH and KH characters'll appear in future chapters. This is my first fic, so pls. go easy on me. Pls. R&R.
1. Prologue: Hope's Awakening

Summary: This story is about Hope who was found by Despair and living his new life in the Heart Beyond Sorrow as the Brotherhood of Sins's 13th brother. I'm not good with summaries. Some resemblance to KH and KH characters'll appear in future chapters. This is my first fic, so pls. go easy on me. Pls. R&R.

Words:  
Normal=Normal  
_Italic_=Writing  
"Normal"=Normal Talk/Thought  
"(Normal)"=Translation

Prologue: Hope's Awakening

A gust of wind blows the dust of a vast empty land that was once a battlefield milleniums ago. Rusted and worn off weapons, shields, pieces of armor, and war machines are scattered everywhere. Blood puddles are dried up. Skeletons of dead warriors lie lifeless on the ground. On the middle of the land, there lies a young man. He has light skin tone, and black hair. He's wearing a white shirt under a black jacket with white details, black gloves, black pants, and white shoes with black details. The young man suddenly came to. He blinks a bit as he tries to get up. He stands on his knees as he turns his head to different directions. He can barely see beyond the area he's in because of the fog and the wind blowing dust. He looks at the sky. The sky is grey and very cloudy and the air is cold. He suddenly feels like something is covering his eyes. So, he slwoly reaches to his face. He feels a light cloth covering both of his eyes. He is wearing blindfold. But that's impossible. He feels like he can see clearly, but he still has a blindfold around his eyes. The young man gets up on his feet slowly. The nerves of his body feels numb and cold because of the air. He crosses his arms, trying to warm himself up.

He suddenly sees a figure beyond a horizon. He could barely see what the figure is, but it looked like a person. He stands still, thinking of what would happen next. The figure approaches closer and the young man is able to get a clearer look at it. The figure is a young man with black hair and wearing a black blindfold and the same black clothing as he is, only the details are all black. He looks like he's carrying a black scythe with a strange demon emblem on the blade. There's something... wrong about him. He looks normal, but there's something off.

"Looks like I have found another one." the figure said.

"A-Another one...? W-Who...are you...?"

"What's your name?"

"M-My name...?"

"Yes. Your name. I wouldn't want to call you 'person with the white blindfold' once we get back."

"Get...back where...?"

"What's your name?"

The young man with the white blindfold starts thinking of what his name is. Only one word comes out of his mouth, "Hope..."

"Hope. Hmmmm... Very well, then. Come with me."

This all feels weird to Hope. He doesn't know much about himself or why he was unconscious in an empty wasteland or why he thought his name is Hope. Hope thought he would find the answers to his questions if he follows that mysterious man. Hope feels hesitant to do it. But he has no other choice. Besides, where else should he go if he refuses? So, he decides to follow him. The young man with the black blindfold holds his hand outwards. Suddenly, a black portal appears and opens before them. Hope was surprised, seeing that portal came out of nowhere. The black blindfolded young man walks through the portal and vanishes from sight. Right now, two questions are on his mind. Should he follow him and step through the portal or should he leave the wastelands? Hope decides to continue following him as he steps through the dark portal, hoping to find some answers and that nothing bad will happen when he arrives to where he's being led. Inside the portal, everything is dim and is ridden with black fog. The person Hope is following is a few feet ahead. Hope runs and catches up to him, so that he won't lose him in the fog.

Hope became curious and asks his leader, "What's your name?"

A brief silence starts for a few seconds as he stops and replies while facing towards Hope, "Despair... My name is Despair."

Despair? That's a completely strange name for a person, but Hope doesn't want to think too much about that until he gets his answers. Despair continues on and walks in front of a portal. It's different from the portal they used a minute ago. This one has white ripples in it and has a crimson aura around it. Despair and Hope walks into the portal. In an unknown place, they both emerge the portal. Hope and Despair are now standing on a black bridge. Dark metal posts with a white orb at both side lines at each two sides of the bridge as the portal closes. The sky is covered with dark red clouds, and the air is still cold. This place feels completely alien to Hope. But, then again, he is new here.

"W-Where are we?" Hope asked Despair.

Despair says to Hope as he points at direction, "This... is the Heart Beyond Sorrow."

Hope looks toward where Despair was pointing. Hope's jaw drops slightly as he walks forward on the bridge and gazes upon a city. The city is dark with red glass for windows. In the middle of the city, there's castle, which is made of bright and polished platinum and black window, floating on a white platform. The castle has 12 towers with orbs of different color on each one except two which doesn't have an orb on it. Hope couldn't go any further because he's at the end of the bridge. But it's enough because the bridge is overlooking the city.

Despair steps on a red circle and backs away. The circle is illuminating and pulsing. Hope turns around and notice something emerging from the circle. A large red glowing crystal emerges from it. Hope walks closer towards it in curiousity. Hope asks Despair, "What is this?"

"This is a Nexus Crystal. The Nexus is a system of transportation here in the Heart Beyond Sorrow..." Despair replied. Then, he gave Hope a white hooded cloak and said, "Wear this. It'll keep you from getting too much attention once we're in the city." Hope did what he's told as he wears the cloak and covered his head with its hood. Despair did the same thing, except his cloak is black. "Touch the crystal." Despair said to him as both of them touched the crystal in unison. The crystal starts glowing even brighter than before. Their hands are still on the crystal as Despair and Hope as they start glowing. Then, they both vanished, teleported into the city

Another crystal, in an alleyways of the city, starts glowing as Despair and Hope reappears. The alleyways are dark, damp, and reeks of garbage. Despair told Hope, "There's another Nexus crystal - not far from here. That crystal will lead us to the castle. Follow me." Despair led Hope again. As they walk, their steps are splashing stagnant water puddles. Hope notices a very skinny humanoid being with grey skin who has only a mouth. No eyes, ears, and nose. It's drinking on a stagnant puddle to quinch its thirst with its blue tongue, drinking like a stray dog who has no choice but to drink filthy alleyway water, so that it wouldn't die from dehydration. The being stops drinking and notices Hope staring at him. it hisses at him with a creepy male snake-like voice. "Rykro Lod Vyres Tu?! (What're you looking at?!)" The being runs away hastely. It was weird. Even though it spoke in a weird language that Hope didn't recognize or he has never seen that... humanoid creatures before, yet he actually understands what he said. Hope turns his back and notice Despair is a few feet away from him again, so he catches up with him again. They're now walking in a street with many humanoid creatures just like the one Hope saw a few seconds ago. All of them seems to be... miserable. He see some of them crying, crawling, shuddering, writhing, etc. He could feel the pain, fear, and sadness of every being he sees.

"Who... or what are these people...?" Hope asked.

Suddenly, a being approaches Despair while giggling insanely and saying, "Hehehe... Shek kron...(Hi there) Hehehehe... Uloscra, vesia po kelle sa merro...? (Listen, can you spare some food?) Hehehe..." the being said pleadingly. Suddenly...

"Insolent pest..." Despair grabbed his scythe and used it to decapitate him! Blue blood gushed like a geyser, splattering messy puddles of gore, as the beheaded corpse fell down to the black pavement. Hope and the other beings watched in horror. Most of the beings ran away in fear. Others stayed because they are too scared to even move. Hope just stared at the gruesome aftermath. Why did he kill that... whatever that thing was? Heck, why did he felt like he cared? He doesn't even know what that thing is.

Despair puts his black scythe into his sheath attached to his back and continues on ahead as he makes a left turn. Hope feels even more hesitant than before, yet he still continues to follow him because he still wants some answers to his existence. Hope wants to ask him about why he killed that... thing. But the words couldn't get out of his mouth and into Despair's ears because he was too scared that he might point his scythe at him and cut his throat off or slices his head off or probably both. Few minutes later, Despair and Hope continues on towards the next Nexus crystal. A silent air blows through the street. Despair informed Hope that there almost there. Hope is starting to get really frightened about what gonna happen when they get to the crystal. He couldn't get away because Despair is probably strong, he doesn't have a weapon to defend himself with, and there is no way how he could get from this place. I guess there's no choice but to accept what fate would lead him to.

The two arrive at the Nexus crystal. They did the same thing they did to the last one: they touch the crystal, vanished, and teleported to whatever places that crystal will take them. Few seconds later, Hope and Despair find themselves in front of a large white gate with a circular lock with 12 gems on it. Hope unveils his hood as he gazes upon what lies beyond the gate. Through the gates is the castle that he saw a while ago. It looks amazing up close. Despair walks toward it then stopped. He turns to Hope and moves his head towards the gate, telling him to walk towards the gate using action. Hope nods as he walks toward the gate with Despair beside him. Suddenly, somethings happening to the lock. It enlarges and another gem appeared on the bottom side of the lock. Two of the gems suddenly starts to glow. One is glowing a black aura and the other is glowing a white aura. Suddenly, words made from white lights formed and floated in front of them. The words are just a bunch of symbols. Another bunch of symbols in black floated in front of Despair. My words were actually easy to read, even though I never seen them before.

I read the symbols which says:

_You, the keeper of light  
Shall face your foes with might  
You, the keeper of darkness  
The power to cause grief and sadness  
The 14th brother, chosen by destiny  
Thou shalt be titled..._  
_"The Key of Equilibrium"i/_

Hope's POV

The Key... of Equilibrium...? What does that mean? Do those words mean that I have something to do with 'changing fate'? Do they mean that there's something even bigger beyond the Heart Beyond Sorrow? I worry about that stuff later as I look at Despair's symbols. I was really confused. His symbols were different from mine. Some of it are the same as mine, but not much of it. I can barely make out the words.

His symbols reads:

_14th... Worlds... Must... Fear...End_

That's all I could read. The words starts fading away as Despair walks in front of the gate. He waves his hand towards the direction of the lock. As if the lock obeyed a command from Despair, the gems disappears and gate opens. Despair walks toward the white gleaming castle. This bridge is bigger than the last one and it has a grayish shade color. Tall pillars are lined at each side of the bridge. I stare at the enormous main gate of the castle. It looks like it has a black heart with spiked markings on it, making it look it's chained or something like that. Looking at that symbol makes me feel uneasy. But I put those feelings aside for later, even though they're starting to overwhelm me. Hmmmm...?! Why do I feel like someone's watching us?

Done. Yeah. Hope you guys like it. And I think I suck at poems. Pls. review.


	2. Prologue 1: Castle Beyond Sorrow

Hey, guys. I hope I did a really good job. Anyways, let's continue on then, shall we? This where Hope will meet Rage and sorta gives him a tour of the Castle Beyond Sorrow. And pls., pls. review. I know someone's reading this. I just want you guys to review just so I could know if anyone's reading this.

Words:  
Normal=Normal, Thought (in character's POV)  
_Italic_=Writing, Song, Instruction Description, Acquired Key Item or Weapon Description  
"Normal"=Normal Talk/Thought  
"(Normal)"=Translation  
**Bold**=Instruction Topic, Acquired Key Item or Weapon

Chapter 1: Castle Beyond Sorrow

Normal POV

As they walk towards the castle's main entrance, Hope looks around to see if someone is really watching them. But there's nothing but silence.

"Hehehehe... Hahahahahahaha!"

Wait, Hope suddenly hears laughter cutting through the silence. The laughing voice sounds creepy and something like a jester would have. Hope turns around, but no one's there. He observes every pillar and notices someone dangling on one of the white metallic pillars. It's a human who actually looks exactly like Despair except his blindfold, details on his black clothes, and cloak are violet. He seems to be hanging on a flat sharp purple-edged metal ring hanged to a spike on the pillar. He's hanging there upside down using his legs like a monkey. Despair looks back and notices Hope a few feet away, staring at the young hanging man, as he looks towards him as well. The hanging teenager gives a wide smile, knowing at they're looking at him.

"Well, howdy-doo, fellas." the teenager said to them with a jolly voice as he waved his hands as a greeting.

"What is it now, Insanity?" Despair asked.

Insanity, at least that's what Despair called him, places his feet at the tip of the spike and stands up while picking up the ring. He puts it around his shoulders and jumps off it while doing a quadruple flip as he landed clean.

"Greed wants to see you. It's urgent." Insanity said in a raspy, creepy, and serious voice as if his personality suddenly changed.

"Alright. Take him to Rage. He'll show him around the castle and introduce him to everyone here. I hope." Despair told him as he went on ahead.

Despair takes his scythe out and slices the air in front of him. After his scythe touched the ground, Hope notices a portal in front of Despair which is shaped like he actually ripped the air, literally. He walks through it as the black ripped portal vanished. Hope's now alone with Insanity. He wonders what's gonna happen to him when he's with Despair's insane look-alike and when he gets to Rage.

"Rage... I'm starting to think I'm not gonna like this guy..." Hope thought as he noticed Insanity doing something.

He's... shivering...? Why is he shivering? Is he cold... or is he just plain crazy? Hope starts to feel worried. Instantly, Insanity walks towards him, catching Hope by surprised. His hands are curled up in front of his chest and are shaking, as if in excitement.

"Hi there. Oh, it's so nice to meet you. It's always fun to have a new brother." Insanity said excitedly as he grabbed Hope's hand and shook it vigorously while giving a wide smile. He was actually shivering because of the excitement. "I'm Insanity, by the way. It's really, really nice to meet you. We're gonna have so much fun together. We'll stay up all night, listening to people screaming. reading about Lamby Pie Goes to Hell and Little Boo Beep Gets Eaten by Monster Lambies and many more fun stories, gossip about how people are totally ridiculous, playing hop scotch on spiked floors, dance to the 100 Sorrows songs, amputate some slaves, and loads of other fun stuff! Yeepee!" Scratch that, he's totally crazy... No, he's beyond that. Insanity continues on babbling like an overly excited child while still shaking Hope's hand vigorously.

"Will. You. Please. Stop. Shaking. My. Hand. P-Please." Hope said between shakes.

"No!" Insanity's voice and tone changed to his creepy, gloomy, raspy, sore voice. "Just a few more!"

Insanity's shaking becomes even more vigorous while still babbling about what other "fun" stuff they should do. As in creepy, horrible, and insane kinda fun. But he isn't called Insanity for nothing.

"This gonna be great. I can't wait anymore." Insanity, who's back to his crazy happy-go-lucky attitude, tugged Hope's hand and led him towards the large door with the black spiked heart shaped lock.

"U-Uhmm... How are we supposed to get in?" Hope asked about the lock on the door.

"Simple. Just watch and learn from an ol' pro."

Insanity lets go of Hope's hand and walks to the gate while swaying his arms confidently. He starts to mutter the words:

"Arconus Ne Paros(Open the door)"

The door heeded his words as the lock vanished into a burst of light. The large white door slowly opens as Hope moves his head to take a look at the castle's interior. But Insanity tugs Hope inside before he could take a look. While dragging him inside, Insanity continues on babbling about what "fun" stuff he and Hope will do, but Hope didn't pay much attention. He was too busy thinking about his fate. The two steps through the door and Hope gazes upon the interior with jaws slightly open in amazement. He was so gripped by the amazement, he could barely say, "Wow!" The foyer is huge. The foyer walls, ceiling, and stairs are gleaming white. On the ceiling hangs a spiked, crystal-like chandelier. The floor is grey marble with a periwinkle velvet carpet leading towards a large staircase. The stairs leads to a large door with a huge symbol carved on it. It looks like the lock that was on the last door they went through. Insanity drags Hope to a hallway right of the staircase.

Hope notices a large black suit of armor with a black ragged hooded cloak carrying a scythe as large as it is. It's carrying it in front of his face as if it's a symbol of honor or something like that. Hope starts to feel weird about that thing. Suddenly, the knight turned its demon shaped helmet towards him. He didn't expected that. He thought it was an empty armor, but it's someone wearing it. Insanity continues dragging Hope through the halls. The walls are white and has marble columns supporting it. The floor has the same carpet as the one in the foyer. Insanity suddenly stops as Hope is holding his arm because his grip was slightly painful. He sees Insanity pushing the door. Beyond the door is a small circular room with many floating crystals of different colors. They almost looks like Nexus crystals, the source of transportation in the Heart Beyond Sorrow.

"Ooooookay... Which one these is the hall to our rooms? Hmmmm..." Insanity wondered as he roams the room, inspecting the crystals.

Hope walks around the room while staring at each crystals we came across. The gleaming lights catches his eyes, even though they're blindfolded. Come to think of it, Hope wonders how he can see even though his eyes are covered with a long piece of fabric. Hope reaches at the back of his head. He felt a lump that's connecting the fabric. It must be the knot keeping the fabric tight around my eyes.

Hope was about to untie it when Insanity notices me and yells using his raspy voice, "Hey!" He stomped towards him. Frightened, Hope stops what he was doing and faces Insanity while slightly trembling. "You are not supposed to do that yet!" Insanity grabs Hope by the arm and drags him to a blue Nexus crystal at the north eastern side of the room. "Well, you know what the drill here is." Insanity said with his happy-go-lucky voice.

Hope actually did. Just touch the crystal and you'll be teleported to whatever places the crystal takes you. And so, they did exactly that. Hope and Insanity touch the crystal as they vanish by a bright light, teleported to wherever the crystal takes them. Few seconds later, a bright light flashed as the two reappear into a different hall in the castle. This one has a long window with a view overlooking the city on the left side and many doors with a sign on each one. The signs showed a silhouette of a weapon/weapons. The door close to them has a silhouette of a circular blade, similar to Insanity's weapon around his shoulder.

"Well, this is my room here." Insanity pointed at the door with the circular blade silhouette. "But first..."

Insanity starts pushing Hope through the hallways. As he is being pushed, he looks at the different silhouettes on the doors. He saw 3 silhouettes that looks like throwing knives, a silhouette that looks like a guitar with a blade attached to it, a silhouette of four claws, and a silhouette of a short sword. Hope and Insanity stops in front of a door with a silhouette of a weapon that looks like two chakrams. Insanity opens it as Hope peeks inside. Suddenly, Insanity pushes him inside, causing him to drop onto his knees.

"Yo, Rage, he's your problem now!" Insanity said with his sour voice as he closed the door hard.

Hope's POV

Geez, what a total nutjob. I can't believe he threw me into someone's room. And it's not just someone's room, it's Rage's. I don't know who that is, but, judging by the name, I'm guessing I'm not going to like him. I stand on my feet and dusted my clothes. The room's walls are in a dark shade of red and the entire floor is covered with a red carpet. I see many posters of different bands and artists: Geo Crasher, 30 Seconds to Mars, Imagine Dragons, Linkin' Park, Green Day, shAd0w 3y3s, The RhazeRs, David Guetta, Black Eyed Peas, and many more. There are many CDs, a bulky stereo, a set of drums that has the words "Ghostquake" on the bass drum, a red and black bass guitar, and an orange acoustic guitar. It looks like I'm the only one here.

What the-!? I suddenly feel a presence. That presence must be Rage. Fear freezes my spine a little. But I try to be brave. I turn around and try to face Rage. But someone pushes me to the carpeted floor. A man that looks like Despair and Insanity except he has a red blindfold and red details on his black clothes. This guy must be Rage. Judging by the growling and his mouth showing his teeth, he must be angry. Is it because I entered his room?

He points a red and black chakram with flame-shaped metal edges towards my neck and yelled, "Who the hell are you!? Why the hell are you in room!?"

I try to say any words, but I'm too scared. Rage might not listen and just instantly slice my throat off. "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't mean t-to barge in unannounced." I stammered through those words. At least, I said something. All there's left to do is hope that he accepts my apology and doesn't rip my head off like how Despair did to that innocent humanoid creature on the streets outiside of the castle. He ripped his head off clean with his scythe even though it only wanted to tell him something which he never finished because his head was on the road.

Suddenly, Rage bursts into laughter as he gets up, "Hahahahahahaha! D-Dude. Hehehe... You were totally easy! Hahaha!" What! He was faking it!? I don't believe. I thought he was going to kill. I nearly had a heart attack. As I get up on my feet, Rage continues laughing, "Hahahahahaha! Dude, you were like, 'I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry. Please don't k-k-k-k-k-kill me'. Hahahahahahaha!" Rage imitated my voice then laughed. I didn't stammered that much and I only thought that last part. I really thought he was gonna kill me.

"Hahaha... Sorry. Hehehehahaha... Let me lighten away the mood with some music." Rage walked up to the stereo and turned it on. The speakers starts beating as the song starts.

_I'm waking up to ash and dust I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust I'm breathing in the chemicals_

"Come on, don't just stand there. Make yourself at home and sit down." Rage said as he jumped on his bed and lied down in relaxation. Wait a minute! How come he's acting nice to me? I thought he was... I dunno. The embodiment of anger because after meeting Insanity and spent a few minutes with him, I think the blinfolded look-alikes' attitudes and personalities reflect their names. But, right now, he's showing a friendly side of him. Weird.

_I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus This is it, the apocalypse Whoa_

"So, newbie, what's your name?" Rage asked.

_I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones Enough to make my systems blow Welcome to the new age, to the new age Welcome to the new age, to the new age Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

"Hope." I told him my name.

_All systems go, the sun hasn't died Deep in my bones, straight from inside_

"So, Insanity pushed you here so that I could give you a grand tour of this castle, right?" Rage said to me with a complaining tone. "I can't believe they just make me do that whenever newcomers are here. What the f*** am I!? A m************ tour guide!?" Rage yelled out as he picked up a bass guitar and smashed it to the wall. The head is shattered and he threw the rest out of the open window. I flinched a bit. Well, there's the anger he was sort of purposely been named for.

_I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones Enough to make my systems blow Welcome to the new age, to the new age Welcome to the new age, to the new age Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

Hmm. Looks like the song ended. Good, it was deafening my ears. Plus I didn't like that song that much. I start to notice Rage starting to take a few breaths, trying to calm down. An awkward silence sends a cold atmosphere in the room. I decided to break the ice and said to him, "Ummm... So, where did you get...all of this?" I was talking about the things he has decorating the room.

Rage looked at me with an expression that looked blank to me. I wonder what his reaction and reply will be? Will he take his anger out on me or will he just move along and start the tour. He sighs as he said, "The posters and the music stuff? I actually stole all these stuff." His reply was just a calm and honest. Wait a minute. Did he just say he stole all of these things?

"You... stole these?" I was surprised and asked him.

"Yeah. These are my rewards. I'm allowed to steal something I like if I do a good job." Rage said in a calm tone. I didn't think it was possible. I thought a person would be given something as a reward for doing something good. Not being allowed to steal something that the person wants. That's almost like extra work. But I don't want to be a thief. That would be really cruel.

"What... is your job anyways?" I asked curiously.

Rage gives me a smirk and says, "You'll find out soon enough. But I do know that your gonna have the same job as mine real soon." Same job as him? What does he mean by that? Well, if I am gonna have a job similar to his, I'm not gonna steal anything as a reward. I just hope I'll like it. Whatever the job is. Rage gets up from his bed and told me, "Well, we better get this done. Earlier we finish, the more time I'll have to hit the hay. I'm beat."

I got up from the bean bag as the two of us walked out of Rage's crimson room. Rage started the tour with not much description of the place. Heck, it only lasted for seconds. The only thing he did was just told me where my room is, gave me a black box, retreated to his room, and slammed the door. I stare at the box for a moment as gazed upon the end of the hall. Rage said my room was over there. I walk towards the end of the hall as looked back at Rage's door.

"What is his job anyways?" I thought as I arrived at the last door.

It has a silhouette of some sort of key on it. I reluctantly open the door and enter. My room looks really plain with white walls and floor. It has a white desk with a lamp emitting a blue light. My bed has gray blanket on it. There's a window that has view of the castle towers outside. I put the black box on the desk as I lie down on my bed with confused emotions. Why did I bother coming along with Despair in the first place? And I wonder, what would happen to me if I didn't came along with him? I decided to try and forget all of that as I drifted to sleep.

Few minutes later, flashes of what seems to be memories suddenly appear as my dreams. The flashes were too fast and I could barely make out any of it. What I could make out were three flashes. The first is just a boy standing on dark, vast wasteland which almost looks like the place where I was found by Despair. Except the sky was dark and cloudy rather than bright and very foggy. The second is a face of a young maiden with aquamarine eyes, dirty blonde hair, and tan skin. The third is a stone statue of an angel with a face that looked like the maiden's face from the second flash. The statue's face has red liquid, sort of like blood, streaming from its eyes, making it look like it's crying. In the flash, the statue falls into a dark chasm. Watching the third made my heart sank into sadness. I don't know why, but I feel... regretful after seeing that. I try to take my mind off it, but it's not working.

I decided that sleeping is pointless now because of that dream. I sigh as gaze out the window and stare at the clouded sky. What am I supposed to do now? I turn my head towards the small black box on my desk. I got up and walk to my desk as curiously pick up and examine the box Rage gave me. It has metallic shine and a smooth texture. There are symbols engraved on it that means:

"Holographic Map Projector"

There's a small glass orb planted in the center. It looks a bit dutsy, so I wipe it the dust off with my thumb. Then, suddenly, a bright white light flashes as I close my eyes, reacting to the sudden burst of light. I open my eyes and see a holographic map emitting from black box's orb. It looks like a map of the castle. This looks cool a little, but this is absolutely useful. I can navigate through the halls with ease once I have this thing. I guess Rage is doing his job as a tour guide after all. Except I have to do the wandering while he takes a nap.

You've obtained:  
**Holographic Map Projector**  
_A signet case that reveals a holographic map when a Map Orb is inserted in the center_

You've obtained:  
**Map Bead  
** _A small transparent orb that reveals a map of the Castle Beyond Sorrow._

**Holographic Map Projector**  
_Holographic Map Projector, HMP for short, is a device used to project a holographic map from a bead that contains a world's topographical data, a Map Bead. This helps you navigate through different areas of different worlds._

I exit my room just to curiously roam the castle. Who knows. I might probably meet a new person here. Or run into Despair, or Insanity. I follow the maps coordinates and start on my exploration. I look at both sides of the hall if anyone is there. No one is in the hall. I feel glad a little since I won't have to run into someone crazy like Insanity. I see a door on the right side the hall, near my room. I decide to start from there. I open the door and I jump that someone was there.


End file.
